New York A 8179: Recalibrates the final average salary retirement calculations in the New York state teachers' retirement system for Joanne Halverson

Bill Text

Bill Search and Legislative Information | New York State Assembly 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

 Skip to main content 

 New York State Assembly

 Speaker Carl E. Heastie

 --> 
 --> 

 --> 

• 
 Assembly Members 

• 
 Legislative Info 

• 
 Public Hearings 

• 
 Speaker's Press 

• 
 Assembly Reports 

• 
 Committees & More 

• Bill Search Home
• Laws
• Legislative Calendar
• Public Hearing Schedule
• Assembly Calendars
• Assembly Committee Agenda 

 Javascript must be enabled to properly view this page. 

 Bill No.: 

• Summary 
• Actions 
• Committee&nbspVotes 
• Floor&nbspVotes 
• Memo 
• Text 
• LFIN 
• Chamber&nbspVideo/Transcript 
A08179 Summary:

BILL NOA08179 

&nbsp

SAME ASNo Same As

&nbsp

SPONSORDeStefano

&nbsp

COSPNSR

&nbsp

MLTSPNSR

&nbsp

&nbsp

Recalibrates the final average salary retirement calculations in the New York state teachers' retirement system for Joanne Halverson by including certain earnings from the 2020-2021 year.

Go to top A08179 Actions:

BILL NOA08179 

&nbsp

05/05/2025referred to governmental employees

01/07/2026referred to governmental employees

Go to topA08179 Committee&nbspVotes:

Go to topA08179 Floor&nbspVotes:

There are no Assembly votes for this bill in this legislative session.

Go to topA08179 Text:

 STATE OF NEW YORK
 ________________________________________________________________________

 8179

 2025-2026 Regular Sessions

 IN ASSEMBLY

 May 5, 2025
 ___________

 Introduced by M. of A. DeSTEFANO -- read once and referred to the
 Committee on Governmental Employees

 AN ACT relating to recalibrating the final average salary retirement
 calculations in the New York state teachers' retirement system for
 Joanne Halverson

 The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
 bly, do enact as follows:

 1 Section 1. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, Joanne
 2 Halverson, who was employed as a teacher with South Country school
 3 district with a start date in September of 1999, and who is currently an
 4 active member of the New York state teachers' retirement system and is
 5 set to retire in June of 2025. During the Covid-19 pandemic, through no
 6 fault of her own, her salaries and benefits were significantly decreased
 7 as a result of extracurricular events and summer schools being closed.
 8 Her salary was substantially reduced in the 2020-2021 year, and thereby,
 9 negatively impacted her final average salary (FAS), which generally
 10 would be the highest average of wages earned during any continuous peri-
 11 od of employment for which a teacher was credited with the last three
 12 years of service. Based on the current Tiers III FAS calculation, the
 13 earnings in 2020-2021 did not exceed the average of the previous two
 14 years by more than ten percent, thus the amount shall be included in her
 15 FAS calculation.
 16 § 2. No contributions made to the New York state teachers' retirement
 17 system shall be returned or refunded to Joanne Halverson pursuant to
 18 this act.
 19 § 3. All past service costs associated with the implementation of this
 20 act shall be borne by all participating employers in the New York state
 21 teachers' retirement system.
 22 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
 FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:

 EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
 [ ] is old law to be omitted.
 LBD10969-02-5

 A. 8179 2

 This bill would remove the exclusion of salary increases greater than
 10% of the average of the prior two years' in calculating the final
 average salary of Joanne Halverson when she retires in June of 2025.
 This exclusion is required as part of the definition of final average
 salary in accordance with Retirement and Social Security Law Section
 608. Ms. Halverson's salary dipped in the 2020-21 fiscal year due to
 the cancellation of extracurricular activities during Covid.
 The annual cost to the employers of members of the New York State
 Teachers' Retirement System is estimated to be approximately $6,000 if
 this bill is enacted. However, if the removal of the salary limitation
 is extended to all members this would change the definition of final
 average salary and would generate non-negligible costs.
 Member data is from the System's most recent actuarial valuation files
 as of June 30, 2024, consisting of data provided by the employers to the
 Retirement System. The most recent data distributions and statistics can
 be found in the System's Annual Report for fiscal year ended June 30,
 2024. System assets are as reported in the System's financial statements
 and can also be found in the System's Annual Report. Actuarial assump-
 tions and methods will be provided in the System's Actuarial Valuation
 Report as of June 30, 2024.
 The source of this estimate is Fiscal Note 2025-17 dated April 7, 2025
 prepared by the Office of the Actuary of the New York State Teachers'
 Retirement System and is intended for use only